Nigerian anti-corruption officers have raided three companies belonging to Mike Adenuga, one of the country's most prominent entrepreneurs. He is also a close business associate of ex-military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, who this week announced his decision to stand in next year's elections. If Mr Babangida is implicated in any probes it may bar him from standing. Mr Adenuga was quizzed a few weeks ago by anti-corruption agents in connection with suspected money laundering. President Olusegun Obasanjo is due to stand down next year after serving two terms in office. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Germany is waiting to hear precisely what the mandate of the UN force for Lebanon will be before it decides what role to play in it. Party leaders in the ruling coalition said on Wednesday they had agreed in principle on contributing to the planned international force. But sensitivities about Germany's past make some politicians uneasy about the idea of German troops facing Israelis. Germany may help in humanitarian work and securing the Lebanon-Syria border. "Many questions are still open," said government spokesman Thomas Steg. "Germany is prepared to make a contribution if there is a clear definition. It depends on certain factors and these factors are still unclear," he said. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4801351.stm

U.S. troops are patrolling the streets in some Baghdad neighborhoods on foot in a new bid to win the trust of Iraqis, an unusual sight for many residents more used to seeing them travel in armored vehicle convoys. Taking a more personal approach to Iraqis long critical of heavy handed tactics is part of the strategy aimed at reclaiming Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods from insurgents and easing communal strife.Thousands of U.S. reinforcements have arrived in Baghdad in recent weeks to join a crackdown by U.S. and Iraqi forces on worsening sectarian violence between once-dominant minority Sunnis and majority Shi'ites in the city.Mindful of the three-year-old Sunni insurgency fighting to expel them from Iraqi soil, U.S. commanders explain to residents that they aim to restore security in support of Iraqi police....http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060817/ts_nm/iraq_baghdad_dc

A scuffle broke out Thursday between saffron-robed monks and anti-war demonstrators at peace rally in Sri Lankan capital.About six or seven monks from a right-wing Buddhist faction had stormed the stage during a peace rally attended by about 1,000 people in the capital, Colombo, shouting pro-war slogans, an AP reporter at the scene said.A member of Sri Lanka's parliament was addressing the crowd when the monks climbed on stage.The monks unfurled banners reading "Take your protest to Kilinochchi," referring to the de facto rebel capital in northern Sri Lanka where hundreds have been killed in the last week.Angry protesters then pulled the monks from the stage and burned their banners, local television showed. There were no reported injuries....http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/08/17/sri.lanka.buddhist.ap/index.html

A husband and wife in Mozambique face multiple charges after confessing to exhuming corpses to eat the flesh and powdered bones, say police. They were arrested in the western village of Vanduzi last weekend in possession of human organs. In a confession, the couple said that eating human flesh strengthened their power to heal people, police say. Gorongosa district police say they are still investigating the case in an area where belief in witchcraft is strong. Gorongosa district police commander, Jose Cumbe, said that it was the first case of self-confessed cannibalism he had uncovered since he began working in Gorongosa two years ago. The husband, 50-year-old Neva Mafunga said he had been eating human flesh for more than 20 years, the police say. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4801177.stm

Sweeping new rules aimed at prodding U.S. companies into shoring up their pension plans and ensuring that workers get the retirement benefits they've been promised are about to become law.President George W. Bush planned to sign the bill Thursday and has already praised it as "the most comprehensive reforms to America's pension system in over 30 years."The massive legislation reflects the evolution of workers' retirement benefits — the decline in traditional pensions that give retired employees a fixed payment each month and the rise of defined-contribution savings plans that rely on workers to build retirement assets. It could also save taxpayers from funding a multibillion-dollar bailout of the federal agency that insures pension plans....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14391251/